The First National Preceptor of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 70

"Listen up, everyone!" Wang Fa began to explain the bet to the crowd.

Finally, Zheng Zhu couldn't help but ask, "Did you put it in the wrong place?"

"Counselor Zheng, we placed it exactly as you instructed, so it should be correct, right?" Wang Fa said uncertainly.

"Stop and wait, let me take stock first," Zheng Zhu said.

He stood up and looked at the first few plates one by one. Each plate had twice as many piles as the previous one. He looked until the end and found no error in the counting. One pile, two piles, four piles, all the way up to sixty-four piles. The fifteenth plate already had one hundred and three piles.

"Are you sure each pile contains 128 grains?" he asked his men to confirm.

"Counselor Zheng, this is absolutely correct. Even if there is a mistake, it will only be one or two grains at most," Wang Fa said firmly. Making a mistake on this would have dire consequences.

"Keep putting them in," Zheng Zhu instructed, then sat down beside them and watched them place the grains one by one.

The rice in the bowl dwindled, and his expression grew increasingly grim. Du Dalang beside him also looked unwell. Finally, the fifteenth section was finished, and only a small portion of rice remained in the bowl.

According to the rules, the sixteenth area should have twice as much rice as the fifteenth area. However, by this point, it was clear to most people that the bowls contained far too little rice, and discussions began to rise.

"Judging from this, there's no way to put the last plate in."

"I didn't expect that we were only missing one plate."

"Great, what a pity." Some people say "great" and "what a pity," but it's hard to understand what they mean.

"Who was it that said the shopkeeper was bound to lose?"

The group looked at each other, none of them admitting that they had said it.

"Looks like we've won. I was really worried just now." With the outcome decided, Uncle Du said to Manager Jiang with a smile.

"Yes, but we still won in the end." Manager Jiang was also very happy.

The other people in the shop were naturally very happy when they learned that their team was going to win.

Xu Tian stepped forward, his face not showing much joy, and simply asked Zheng Zhu, "So, should we continue placing them?"

He was actually quite happy inside, but he couldn't show it on his face, lest Zheng Zhu become angry and refuse to acknowledge the result.

"Hmph, I was actually deceived by you. You really are a treacherous person." Zheng Zhu stared at him coldly and said.

"No, it's a matter of accepting the consequences of one's bet. Everyone has seen it from beginning to end, and I won by sheer luck."

"You filled the bowl with rice, but nobody knows how many grains are in it. You also decided the number of plates. Until the very end, nobody knows the outcome; it's all predetermined." Xu Tian absolutely refused to admit that he had any ulterior motives.

"Indeed, this is truly ordained by Heaven," Du Erlang said at this moment.